TGBLS joins the world in celebrating World Wildlife Conservation Day!

As HR practitioners and Learning & Development professionals, we at The Green BOX Learning Solutions not only have passion for growing and harnessing the potential of our human resource.  We also value and have compassion for another important type of natural resource – our wildlife.

Photo by David Hinchliffe

Sadly in this day and age, this type of resource is rapidly decreasing mainly due to the activities of “human” resources.  When people cut and burn trees on a massive scale, we consequently deprive wildlife living in forests and jungles of their natural habitats.  When people improperly dispose of non-biodegradable materials in rivers and oceans, marine life suffers the consequences.  When people use animal parts for traditional medicine, clothes and accessories, lucky charms, status symbols, or trophies, hunting and poaching wildlife for this purpose leads to whole species of life becoming endangered or extinct.

Photo by Brian Snelson

We may think that we are not one of those “human” resources that are involved in bringing about the demise of wildlife. After all, we don’t directly cut trees, nor do we dump toxic waste in the ocean.  It’s also unlikely that we are involved in poaching activities or in illegal wildlife trade.  And so we tell ourselves that we’re not part of the problem at all and that the responsibility of conserving and protecting wildlife falls on the shoulders of government and non-government agencies instead.  And why should we care in the first place?  Some of us may say we’re not really animal lovers nor are we wildlife advocates.  Some of us may say we prefer to focus our energies on improving the human species instead.  Let those who love animals do the heavy lifting in conservation efforts.

Photo by Rennet Stowe

However, this way of thinking is just as damaging as the actual problem.  If we don’t take responsibility for the actions of humanity against wildlife and continue to think it’s someone else’s problem and not ours, then we’ll never be part of the solution.  And we all have a stake in the solution.  UN studies show how even animal agriculture contributes greatly to global warming and thus to climate change, which impacts everyone and everything in the world.  Ensuring healthy populations of wildlife helps maintain ecological balance needed to sustain all life – including humans – while contributing as well to biodiversity. We may be the dominant species on this planet but we are interdependent with all the other species of life on earth.  We need them just as much as they need us.  We cannot survive without each other.

Photo by jumblejet

Today as we celebrate World Wildlife Conservation Day, we recognize those human resources who have both the passion and compassion for this precious and much-exploited natural resource.  One need not be at the forefront of the battle for conservation, but at the very least we can spread awareness on the plight of wildlife.

Photo by Jakob Lawitzki

As world leaders meet in Paris to discuss climate change this week and the next, there is hope for all species to continue to flourish. Human progress and development need not occur at the cost of endangering wildlife and nature.  Let us all do our part however direct or indirect in saving all species on our planet, and in turn save ourselves.

This article is wriiten by Ms. Katrina Llona – a Learning Consultant in The Green BOX Learning Solutions, Inc. and a Wildlife Advocate.